1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a wind turbine producing energy and, more particularly, to a wind turbine having a hub mounted on a rotatable shaft with a ring concentrically mounted on the shaft, the ring driving energy producing equipment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wind turbines, including windmills, are known and are used to power energy production equipment including generators, compressors or pumps, as well as other devices. It is known to have the wind turbine connected to a shaft and the rotational energy in the shaft is then used to drive the energy producing equipment. Windmills or wind turbines have gear boxes to transfer energy from the blades through the shaft to energy producing equipment. It is known to use wind turbines to produce electrical energy, but great difficulty has been encountered in producing 60 cycle electricity using wind turbines. Without 60 cycle electricity, the output from previous wind turbines cannot be connected to a grid system of an electrical utility without being energized by the grid. The difficulty of producing 60 cycle electricity arises because the wind velocity constantly changes and therefore the speed of rotation of the blades of the wind turbine varies. Further, electrical energy cannot be produced by a wind turbine during periods when the wind is not blowing or is not blowing at a sufficient velocity to rotate the wind turbine. Previous windmills also have significant power limitations due mainly to the gearbox. Previous wind turbines do not have a power capacity that exceeds 3.5 MW.